What follows is a list of 10 players or groups of players who weren't worth anywhere close to the money they received. The list mostly relies upon advanced statistics such as win probability added (WPA), from NFL Advanced Statistics, and defense adjusted yards above replacement (DYAR) from Football Outsiders. These stats have complex formulas behind them. To sum up simply, these statistics are merely trying to figure out how much a player or set of players is worth when controlling for the production of his team-mates and opponents. I've also mentioned more commonly known statistics, to give you a better idea about how good a player is.

The only rule I followed is that the player could not have been injured for more than eight games. Yes, an injured player must get paid, but if I counted them then any injured player would appear to be a rip-off.

So: the 10 players who were a rip-off in 2012. Feel free to disagree in the comments section below...

David Akers ($3.6m – fifth-highest among placekickers)

San Francisco has brought in potential replacements – with good reason – for a man who may determine the winner of the Super Bowl. Akers had the second-worst list field- goal percentage, at 69%, was one of only seven kickers to miss a field goal from less than 30 yards and had the most misses from 40 to 49 yards among those with at least 15 attempts.

Dwayne Bowe ($9.5m - fourth-highest among wide receivers)

The 2-14 Chiefs got no help from this highly paid receiver. Bowe ended up with a WPA of 67th out of 76 receivers, 65th out of 76 on catch rate (passes thrown in his direction that he caught), 53rd out of 76 in receiving touchdowns, with three, and 43rd out of 76 for success rate (plays that help add to a team's chance of scoring). Eww.

Larry Fitzgerald ($13.3m – second-highest among receivers)

The Cardinals wide receiver may have been great in past seasons but he was a big reason his team finished 5-11. A WPA of 75th out of 76 receivers listed, a catch rate of 74th out of 76, a yards per reception ranking of 65th out of 76, only four receiving touchdowns and the worst DYAR for any receiver with more than 50 catches in the NFL all made Fitzgerald's year one to forget.

Peyton Hillis ($2.9m – 25th-highest among running backs)

Hillis didn't get paid very much, comparatively, but he was probably worth zero dollars. The Chiefs running back only touched the ball 95 times for a little less than 400 yards of total offense. He had the second worst DYAR among those with 20 to 99 carries and he scored only once.

Kansas City Chiefs defense ($63.3m – sixth-highest among defenses)

Lots of Chiefs are on this list – for good reason. The Chiefs were the third-worst in defensive-adjusted value over average, last in interceptions with seven, eighth worst in points allowed per game with 26.6 and third worst in sacks with only 27. The fans probably would have done better.

Darren McFadden ($7.8m – sixth among running backs)

Oakland was not much better than Kansas City, and McFadden was a large reason why. He was dead last in rushing DOVA for those with at least 100 carries, dead last in receiving DOVA for running backs with at least 25 pass receptions, 46th in yards per carry with 3.3 andworst in WPA among running backs listed. And he had only two rushing touchdowns. Awful.

Mark Sanchez, left, and his New York Jets team-mate Tim Tebow – when Tebow played for Denver. Photograph: Barry Gutierrez/AP

These guys are atrocious. Sanchez's ranked worst in WPA among QBs, 35th out of 39 in completion rate at 54.3%, and had the second-highest number of interceptions, with 18. Tebow attempted only eight passes, was sacked twice in very few chances and only averaged 3.2 yards during his little rushes.

Philip Rivers ($15.3m – third-highest among quarterbacks)

Norv Turner doesn't deserve all the blame for the Chargers' disastrous year. Rivers placed 33rd out of 39 on WPA, in the top 11 in interceptions with 15, 24th out of 39 in yards per attempt, and 20th out of 39 in success rate.

Grading offensive lines is tough. Still, when you take everything into effect, Tennessee's line probably should have been the second-lowest, not second-highest paid. They were second-worst in adjusted line yards and 19th of 32nd in adjusted sack rate, and not one lineman position ranked higher than 22nd out of 32 for adjusted yards.

Michael Vick ($13.9m – fourth-highest among quarterbacks)

When Vick could actually get in the game, it was a sight not to be seen. A WPA of 31st out of 39 for quarterbacks, completion rate of 28th out of 39, an interception per game and a DYAR ranking of 28th out of 39 for those QBs with more than 100 passes forced Eagles' fans yearn for the days of Donovan McNabb.

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